Orthopedic footwear



Dec. 10, 1940. N. v. LEvlTT ORTHOPEDIC FOOTWEAR Filed Dec. 9, 1939 l .griglia/ll; .a l ,riff

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0 l lill/111111111111111 ATTORNEY Patented Dec. 10, 1940 UNITED STATES PATENT v,OFFICE ORTHOPEDIC FOOTWEAR Nathan V. Levitt, NewA York, N. Y. Application December 9, 1939, Serial No. 308,332v

1 Claim.

This invention relates to orthopedic footwear appliances or corrective means to be either inserted inside the shoe or incorporated in the fabrication of the shoe, for the purposes -of cor- 5 recting common foot ailments. `One embodiment of my invention is shown in the accompanying drawing wherein:

Fig. 1 is a longitudinal section through a shoe .incorporating my improvement and showing the bones of the foot; Fig. 2 is a plan View, with my corrective device in place and also showing the bones of the foot; Figs. 3-6 are partial sections taken on lines 3-3, 4 4, 5-5 and 6 6, respectively, of Fig. 1; Fig. 7 is a perspective view of the insert; and Fig. 8 is a modified form of the invention.

The human foot has, as is well known, four important arches; two of them extending in a longitudinal direction and two in a direction transverse thereto. The longitudinal arches are the inner longitudinal arch, which is shown in Fig. 2 generally in the direction of the line IA-IA, and the outer longitudinal arch, which is shown in Fig. 2, generally in the direction of the line OA-OA. The inner arch (IA-IA) extends from the astragalus bone I0 to the rst, second and third metatarsals I I, I2 and I3, crossing the scaphoid I6 and the external, middle and internal cuneiform bone respectively 2l, 22 and 23. The outer longitudinal arch (OA-OA) eX- tends from the os calcis (or heel bone) 2li to the fourth and fifth metatarsals I4 and I5 respectively, crossing the cuboid bone 24.

Common foot ailments are caused by fallen arches, by which is meant a breaking down of the outer longitudinal arch. It has long been the practice to prevent fallen arches or to support them after they have broken down, by the use of arch supports, either as separate inserts or incorporated in the shoe, positioned along the inner edge of the foot and underlying the inner longitudinal arch (IA) or instep. It has been thought that the supporting of the inner archwhich is the more prominent of the pair of longitudinal arches and extends over a greater portion of the foot, that is, comprises more bones, as will be readily seen from Fig. 2-would be sucient to maintain the foot against a breaking down in a longitudinal direction. I have found, however, that while it might seem that the inner longitudinal arch, or rather the breaking down thereof, is the main cause of many of the common foot ailments, it is really the hitherto unnoticed outer longitudinal arch which is at the root of the common foot ailments. I have further discovered that by providing a suitable support for the outer longitudinal arch (as will be explained and shown below), the breakdown of this arch is prevented and also some support is given to the longitudinal arch.

The importance of supporting the outer longitudinal arch will be seen from an analysis of the process of walking and from a consideration of a very common foot ailment known as fMortons toe. Walking is a three point process, by which is meant that the foot is not placed on the ground with all points in simultaneous contact therewith, but rather three different points or parts of the foot contact the ground in sequence; the rst point oi contact is the os calcis or heel bone, which is followed by the portion of the foot along the. fth metatarsal or outer edge of the foot, the third and last point of contact is at the sesamoid bone (not shown) which is at the distal end of the first metatarsal. It 'n is thus seen that the entire weight of the body is rst thrown on the outer edge of the foot or along the outer longitudinal arch which comprises the first two points of the tripod, namely, the os. calcis contact and the fifth metatarsal contact above referred to. Hence the vital importance of providing a suitable support for the outer longitudinal arch becomes evident.

The further need for such a support is seen from consideration of the ailment known' as Mortons toe, which is a disturbance caused by the cramping of the fourth metatarsal (I4, Fig. 2) due, for one thing, to the iact that there is not ample support for this bone. It isseen from Fig. 2 that both the fourth and fifth metatarsals must share together whatever support they get from the cuboid bone (24). On the other hand, the first, second and third metatarsals, each have a separate supporting bone, respectively, the external, middle andv internal cuneiiorm bones (2|, 22 and 23). Hence, by providing a suitable support along the outer longitudinal arch as will be seen,v further and sufficient support is afforded for the fourth metatarsal, to remedy Mortons toe ailment. 45

In the use of arch supports, by which is meant supports for the inner longitudinal arch, there is more than sufficient room for positioning such appliances at the inner edge of the shoe and underlying the instep of the foot. 50 When it comes to providing a suitable support for the outer longitudinal arch, on the other hand, there is very little room or clearance for such a support, as will be readily seen from Fig. 1, wherein it appears that the portions of the bone structure which constitute the outer longitudinal arch, namely, the lower portions of the os calcis bone 20, the cuboid bone 24 and the fifth metatarsal l5, are in direct contact with the shoe; these points of. contact are indicated in Fig. 1 by letters a and b (os calcis), c (cuboid) and d (proximal end of the fth metatarsal) The difculty of positioning a suitable support for the outer longitudinal arch is readily seen by examining an ordinary shoe. It will be `seen that the bottom of the foot lies closely against the insole of the shoe and,`in fact, extends or bulges somewhat beyond, that is, outwardly of the sole of the shoe.

In Fig. 1 the insole of the shoe is designated.

I and the outer sole is designated 2, the heel being indicated at 3.

arch is afforded by inserting a strip of'material, preferably of leather, which is designated generally as (shown in perspective in Fig. '7) to underlie the outer sole 2 -and extending from the beginning of the instep 2a to the heel 3. Where the portion of the insert 5 extends beyond the instep and between the sole 2 and the heel 3v, one or more ofthe heel lifts, or rather portions thereof, may be the firstl removed.

It will be seen best from Fig. 1, that the thickv est point of the insert is in the Vicinity undery lying the juncture between the proximal end of the fifth metatarsal I5 and the cuboid 24. The

if if desired, may be placed abovel the sole of the I have discovered that aj satisfactory support for the outer longitudinal shoe as shown in Fig. 8, where the insert, in other respects like that shown above, is designated l5.

My invention not only remedies the foot ailments above noted, but also, and as a result thereof, causes persons to walk with an inversion aspect, and not with an eversion aspect. Most people, especially those having foot ailments, walk with the toes of their feet pointed outwardly-this is known professionally as eversion. By providing a support or raised portion at the outer borders of the shoe-as explained above, the foot is caused to be turned inwardly, i. e., to assume the desired inversion aspect.

Incidental to the inversion corrective measures of my invention, there is a marked improve- 'inen't in the 'evenness of foot or rather shoe pressure on the ground, which results in a more even wearing of the shoe material; this is especially noticeable with respect to rubber heels which last very much longen I- claim:

A corrective device -for a human *foot which` comprises a supporting means for the outer longitudinal arch of4 the foot, extending from -thel o s calcis to the distal ends of the metatarsal andunderlying the cuboid, -said means comprising a strip of leather positioned outside the' sh oe in underlying relation to the outer sole thereof be' tween the beginning of theginstep to a point within the heel of the shoe, portions of the heel` of the shoe being removed to receivethe heel portion of the said strip, the said strip extending from the outer edge of the shoe to a longitudinal line at the internal cuneiformbone, the thickest point of the said strip being at the outer edge underlying the juncture between the proximal end of the fth metatarsal and the cuboid, thev strip gradually tapering from the said high point transversely to the said longitudinal line and gradually tapering from the said point longitudinally to its said forward end at the instep andto its said rearward end at the heel.

NATHAN v.` LEvITT. 

